


Lost and Found

by Offmon



Series: Cyber Sleuth/Appmon Crossover World [1]
Category: Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series
Genre: Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26811814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Offmon/pseuds/Offmon
Summary: It had been several months since Mother Eater's defeat.  Life had gone almost back to normal for everyone.  Keisuke, haunted by the memories of the past that no one around him shared, lashes out and watches himself destroy his own life in his quest to bring back his precious friend.  Will he finally be able to tell his friends the truth, or will he loose himself in his own emotional turmoil?
Relationships: Amazawa Keisuke/Nogi Yuu
Series: Cyber Sleuth/Appmon Crossover World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955482
Kudos: 14





	1. Slip Up

**Author's Note:**

> (This work contains depictions of child physical/emotional abuse. It also mentions suicidal thoughts and sexual harassment/assault, but does not display any of these things or any other mature content outside of things mentioned in the chapter. Please be careful while reading!)

Grief is a funny thing as it is. Even when everyone knows what you’re going through, it’s still hard to come to terms with. But it’s especially hard when you have no one to help you through it. You become defensive, jagged, you say things you regret because you feel attacked. And perhaps the worst is when people want to help you, but you just can’t tell them what you’re going through. Whether it’s for their own safety, for your own, or perhaps you just don’t think anyone could believe what you’ve been through.

“Fifty percent of the proceeds?! Are you kidding me?!” Keisuke slammed his hands on the table, glaring daggers at Ryuji. “You didn’t even come on the mission with us! We did all the work!”

“Woah, Keisuke, calm down,” Chitose replied with his signature worried look he always had when trying to de-escalate conflict. “He helped us from Hudie-”

“Yeah, and disappeared when we needed him most,” Keisuke sneered. “He always does this! He takes all the credit, when he’s done nothing to deserve it!”

“Oi,” Ryuji snapped, voice as cold as ice. “I have a business to run on top of studying in college. It’s not my fault you were too stupid to get into a university. You have more time than I do. But I created Hudie, and I can do whatever I damn please with the reward money.”

Keisuke saw red. _Ryuji_ created Hudie?! Yeah right! Everything else just flew through one ear and out the other, but that remark… After everything that happened in the past timeline, Ryuji remembered none of it. He was just as arrogant and cold as always, but never faced any struggle. His parents were alive, he had a great relationship with them, and he was having a successful higher education experience and was fast-tracked to being a very successful tech person. All because Erika sacrificed herself. And he remembered none of it. None of the pain he went through, none of the pain he put his little sister through, none of the pain he inflicted on Keisuke...

“H-hey, Ryuji, dude, that’s not helping,” Chitose sputtered, grabbing onto his friend’s arm. Ryuji glared at him, but Chitose didn’t flinch, his gaze instead becoming harder. “I understand why you need the largest share of the money, but you don’t have to insult him over it.”

Yu was slumped over miserably in a chair in the corner of the room, fingers rubbing his temple as he tried to shut out the shouting, but shifted his gaze to Keisuke briefly, looking at his friend’s trembling hands. He gave Keisuke a sympathetic look.

“I’m not insulting him. I’m just stating facts,” Ryuji replied to Chitose monotonously. “Just because I can’t be on the field as much as you guys doesn’t mean I’m not in charge. And I’m sick and tired of some little pipsqueak constantly challenging my authority over shit he clearly doesn’t understand.” He turned back to Keisuke, glaring harshly. “If you hate it here so much, leave. No one is making you stay here. I don’t get what your fucking problem is, kid, but you need to be put back in your place.”

Keisuke visibly twitched, but he was still scowling furiously at the taller, older man. Yu quickly got up and grabbed onto Keisuke. Keisuke flinched, looking at Yu with wide, scared eyes, but he let out a sigh and visibly untensed when he saw it was just Yu.

Yu recoiled a bit as well, trying to find his words. “Um, Keisuke...let’s just...can we just go home? Please? It’s not worth fighting.”

“Yeah, I’d kick his ass,” Ryuji sneered.

“Ryuji!” Chitose lightly smacked his friend on the arm to chide him.

Yu winced at Ryuji’s comment, then gave Keisuke a pleading look.

Keisuke grunted and quickly turned around, storming out of the store and not looking back, not even for Yu - although the lavender-haired boy quickly scampered after him.

Once outside, Keisuke let out a long sigh, folding his arms behind his head. He forced himself to avoid crying right then and there. How long could he keep this charade up for? After all-

“Keisuke...is everything okay? You haven’t been acting yourself lately…”

-Yu was already getting suspicious.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keisuke replied curtly, not meeting Yu’s eyes.

Yu diverted his eyes to the ground. “I just...you’ve been so mad lately. I feel like there’s something on your mind, and I really want to help you, but I can’t if you won’t talk to me.”

 _You have no idea._ What was Keisuke supposed to do? Tell Yu everything that happened back in the other timeline? Including the times when Yu kind of tried to kill him? Sure, it was because of the mask, but...Keisuke couldn’t even fully trust Yu, as much as he wanted to. And it’s not like telling Ryuji and Chitose would actually do any good. They hadn’t changed for the better in this timeline, even though their lives were objectively better. At least Yu hadn’t tried to kill him or steal his identity in this new timeline yet. He also wasn’t infuriatingly self-righteous, just a bit too far in the opposite direction.

There was also the whole problem of Keisuke kind of knowing Yu was gay, technically without his consent, and he really didn’t want to out his best friend. And what good would it do to say anything to Yu? Then he would just have to confront how he personally felt, and he had enough on his mind without suddenly questioning his sexuality and everything he knew about his life and who he could spend the rest of his life with.

Yu reached for Keisuke’s hand to give it a comforting squeeze, but Keisuke quickly pulled back and let out a yelp, startled at his own thoughts. “Don’t touch me!” he blurted out, not even realizing what he was saying.

A couple passerbys turned and looked, and Yu was already red in the face. But not the cute kind of blushing that actually brought some sort of relief to Keisuke despite everything. It was the kind of look he usually had right after being called a name by a bully.

“I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to…” Yu stammered out. “...I-I’m sorry…”

Guilt gripped at Keisuke’s heart - probably the last thing he needed right now. But Yu didn’t do anything wrong, even by Keisuke’s far too generous standards.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped like that,” Keisuke replied, absentmindedly grabbing Yu’s hand in the process. “I was just...thinking, that’s all. I’m sorry, it’s just...I don’t think it’s something you can help me with…”

Yu was staring down at Keisuke’s hands, face far redder than before, not responding. Keisuke cocked an eyebrow and followed his friend’s gaze before realizing what he had done without thinking about it. He let out a small audible gasp and quickly tucked both hands back into his Hudie jacket, turning away from Yu to try and avoid letting his friend see the flush of embarrassment on his face.

The following silence was incredibly painful, and eventually Keisuke just started walking forward, pausing slightly when he didn’t hear Yu behind him. The lavender-haired boy was a few yards away, but started following him again when Keisuke looked back.

They walked in silence for a long time, before Keisuke eventually stopped, right before they turned the block that his apartment complex was on. He turned slightly to his friend, but still didn’t meet Yu’s eyes. “I’m...sorry for my outburst in Ikebukuro. It’s nothing personal, it really isn’t, I just…” He shifted himself uncomfortably. “There’s something personal that I dealt with in the past that’s been bothering me lately, and even though it isn’t about you, I feel like...I feel like it would hurt you to know about. And I also feel like even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me, but I swear this isn’t just one of my pranks again. But I just feel like you’re better off not knowing.”

Yu almost reached for Keisuke’s hand again but paused, quickly pulling back. “Keisuke...I promise I’ll believe you. You’ve always stood up for me against bullies and whatnot. You’re always there for me. Heck, you even got me a job with Hudie! You can tell me anything, even if you think it’ll hurt me. We’re...we’re best friends, right? And if you don’t want me to tell anyone, then I won’t, no questions asked. And if you get uncomfortable at any point, you can stop, you don’t have to tell me every little detail.” Concern was clear in his best friend’s voice - Keisuke could only imagine what kind of horrible scenarios were running through Yu’s head right now. The only person he knew with a worse imagination than himself was Yu. “I just...I want to do whatever I can to help you, Keisuke. Even if you don’t want to tell me everything, or even anything, if there’s anything at all I can do...I want to do it."

Keisuke’s gaze softened. “I swear, you wouldn’t guess in a million years what I’m about to tell you.”

“Ooh, let me guess!” Yu exclaimed playfully. “Hm, I’m gonna say...you murdered someone when you were a toddler?”

Keisuke chuckled a bit, the tension lifting from his shoulders. “No, but good guess.”

“Hm...you had a pet when you were young, your very first pet, who tragically died before you could find out what was wrong with it? Or! Your dad had an accident that left him with permanent brain damage? Or or! You hate your dad for treating you and your mother with disrespect? Or you drained an entire small lake accidentally and killed an entire ecosystem by doing that? Or you got harassed and cyberbullied by a weird grown-ass man online with a dragon fetish? Or-”

Keisuke couldn’t help but snicker more. “No, no- why are those so specific? I told you, you’re not going to guess it!” he laughed.

Yu sat down on the curb, looking up expectantly at Keisuke. “Well then come on, tell me, what is it? I’ll even tell you my own secret if you really want to, I promise!”

“You’re the one who asked to guess!” Keisuke insisted, sitting down next to his friend. His own secret? Maybe he’ll come out to me on his own then…

Keisuke explained everything - how there used to be a different timeline, how it caused some of his memories to mix-match with memories from this timeline. He explained Digimon, EDEN, and what Hudie used to be. He explained why he originally got involved with Hudie in the other timeline, he talked about Zaxon and the Demons and K and how K was secretly the one who stole his account all along due to his obsession with Keisuke - obviously, Keisuke left out K’s true identity. Yu asked where he was during all of this - thankfully, Keisuke was able to honestly answer that he wasn’t a part of Hudie in that timeline. Keisuke explained Erika, her illness, her role in Ryuji’s life, and how frustrated he was that the world apparently became a better place from her absence. Except for him - he missed her, he missed her so much. And Ryuji was still a bad person even though his life was so much better now! After all the chances he had given Ryuji before...even Ryuji acknowledged his mistakes in the other timeline, but he never got a chance to make up for them, not to Keisuke anyways. And now he was so infuriatingly smug and proud and he couldn’t even remember his little sister… Keisuke tried to force himself not to shed any tears, but he had a feeling it didn’t work.

Yu sat quietly through it all, giving empathetic looks from time to time, but listening attentatively and letting Keisuke finish.

“And honestly, if you don’t believe me, even after all of that, I wouldn’t blame you,” Keisuke admitted with a bit of a nervous chuckle. “It’s pretty unbelievable.”

“Of course I believe you,” Yu insisted quickly, concern clear in his voice. “I’m just…” He folded his arms over his midsection. “I’m so sorry, Keisuke…” His eyebrows were furrowed with sympathy. “I don’t even know what to say...but I want to help you. The digital world...it still exists, right? What if we could get back there - it should be safe without the Eaters around, right? And then we could find her and at least talk to her, even if she’s happy there!”

Keisuke smiled warmly at Yu, drying a stray tear he could still feel in his eye. “Thank you, Yu. I don’t think it’ll be that easy, but I still want to try. No matter how long it takes...I don’t want her to be forgotten.” He leaned a bit on Yu, exhaustion overtaking him after saying all of that and unloading all of his emotional burdens, to the point where he didn’t even notice Yu’s face go bright red at the physical affection.

Well, he unloaded almost all of his emotional burdens, anyways.

“B-by the way,” Yu began, desperately trying to ignore his crush leaning so close to his rapidly beating heart, “w-who was that K guy, anyways?”

Keisuke’s heart stopped for a moment. He sat up quickly - to which Yu made a sad, somewhat pathetic noise - and wouldn’t meet Yu’s eyes.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Yu asked, flush immediately draining from his face. “Keisuke, are you okay? You don’t have to tell me if you’re that uncomfortable, but-”

“It was you!” Keisuke blurted out, then quickly covered his mouth, eyes wide as saucers.

Yu had a horrified look on his face. “Wh...what?”

Keisuke’s face was pale. No, no no no no no, he wasn’t supposed to tell Yu that part! He didn’t want his friend to be upset. He knew Yu was going to blame himself and be self-loathing and stuff, and he just could NOT handle that right now. “A-aha, just kidding-” he tried to stammer out.

“What?!” Yu stood up, panic ringing in his voice. “N-no, I couldn’t, I wouldn’t-!” His eyes were gradually filling with tears. “I-I-”

“Yu, it’s okay, it’s not your fault-” Keisuke began wearily.

“Actually, it’s kind of the definition of my fault!” Yu shouted. “I-I’m...I’m so sorry…” he was trying to calm himself down, but it didn’t seem to be working. “That’s why you’ve been so uncomfortable with me touching you, it makes perfect sense now - god damn it, I’m such an idiot-”

“You’re not an idiot,” Keisuke insisted, trying to de-escalate the situation. “You didn’t do that in this timeline, remember? You don’t have any responsibility for what happened in that other timeline, because you’re not a jerk in this one.” He didn’t want to dissect the hypocrisy in that statement, but he truly didn’t feel like this Yu had anything to answer for.

“But I would do that. I would if I had the opportunity, if I thought I was losing you.” Tears started rolling down Yu’s cheeks. “If I was scared that I was losing you...do you know how easy it would be to trick me into doing anything to keep you with me? You’re my only friend, the only person who’s ever cared about me… B-but you were never supposed to know all of that...you were never supposed to know any of that!”

Keisuke hesitated, before trying to hug Yu. “I know, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to tell you how much I knew...and I didn’t know you still felt that way, truthfully, but I didn’t want to invade your privacy…”

“Are you kidding me?!” Yu pulled away from Keisuke, voice strained with emotion. “Why are you comforting me?! I tried to KILL you! I caused so many problems for you! And I just admitted I’d do it again if it kept you from leaving me! Why are you the one apologizing?! I’m the one who fucked up! I’m the one who IS fucked up!”

Keisuke stood helplessly, feeling unable to do anything to fix this. “I just don’t want you to hate yourself because of me.”

Yu let out an exasperate cackle. “Hate myself? Because of you? You’re literally the only reason I haven’t slit my throat open already.”

That didn’t make Keisuke feel better at all. He could feel teardrops beginning to roll down his cheeks, face as white as a ghost.

“Keisuke, please,” Yu begged. “My emotions aren’t your responsibility. Your only responsibility is your own wellbeing. I’m fucked up - if I can’t even handle the way I am, there’s no way in hell you’re going to be able to fix that. You being my friend is the best thing in my life - it’s the only thing I need from you. You do more than I can say just by being my friend. So please, just...prioritize yourself. Do what makes you happy. Don’t worry about me.”

“But seeing you happy is what makes me happy,” Keisuke choked out. Honestly, it wasn’t even that Yu was particularly special in that regard - Keisuke just hated upsetting people.

Although...Sure, he had other friends - he was still on good terms with Chitose, he still had the numbers of all the hacker friends he made in the other timeline, and he still occasionally got to see his old school friends. But Yu was his best friend, his confidant. He had stopped relying on Yu when he first joined Hudie, but now he realized just how much he still needed his childhood friend.

Yu was taken aback, rose blush quickly spreading over his face. He clutched the part of his jacket over his heart timidly, not looking Keisuke in the eye. “...Me too,” he finally whispered. “But I know you. You just want everyone to be happy. But you have to take care of yourself first in order to help anyone else.” He shyly reached for Keisuke’s hands, clutching them in his own. “Okay? I’m not some little kid you need to protect anymore. I can handle my own mistakes. What you said didn’t hurt me, I promise.”

Keisuke quickly tried to wipe the tears out of his eyes, nodding. “Yeah, okay.” He looked up at his towering apartment complex. “I guess I should probably get home now…”

“Take care of yourself, okay?” Yu lightly bumped the back of Keisuke’s hand with his own. “And...thank you for telling me what you’ve been going through. If you need anything, just text me.”

“Thanks,” Keisuke replied with a grateful smile. He waved goodbye to his friend as their path split.  
\---  
“I thought you said you would be home by sundown,” a sharp voice chided Keisuke as he was slipping off his shoes at the doorway. Keisuke rolled his eyes.

His parents were what had started this whole thing in the first place. They had insisted that Hudie didn’t pay enough to count as a full-time job - which to be fair, it didn’t, thanks to how much Ryuji took out of the case rewards. Since he didn’t get into university, they had been heckling him about giving up Hudie and “finally” getting a “real” job.

Keisuke just ignored both of his parents, pushing his way into the kitchen.

“You missed dinner,” his mother chastised. “I even made your favorite type of pasta.”

Keisuke opened up the fridge, taking out a tupperware container of spaghetti.

“So? Can you pay your rent now, or are you still thousands of yen short?” Keisuke’s father muttered. “You realize the longer you wait, the more interest we’ll charge, right?”

Keisuke put his check down on the kitchen table before slipping into his bedroom, unable to take the nagging long enough to warm up his dinner.

“Don’t spill anything in there!” his father shouted, for some reason finding it necessary to throw in one last nag.

Keisuke slammed his door shut, put his spaghetti on his computer desk, and collapsed on his bed, burying his face in his pillow. He was finally alone, he could finally let everything out. It simultaneously felt like a weight had been lifted from him, but three more smaller weights had been added. He hadn’t fixed any of his problems except his lack of a confidant, a person to talk to. And even though he appreciated having Yu to talk to now, and not having to worry about confessing to him all the things he knew in the future, he wasn’t sure if it was really worth it.

_“You’re literally the only reason I haven’t slit my throat open already.”_

Even though the whole point of that sentence was that Keisuke was a positive influence on Yu’s life, the potential that Yu could snap if he made one wrong move weighed heavily on him. Hell, who’s to say they even resolved the conflict this evening in a satisfactory way? What if Yu was harming himself right now? Keisuke stared at his phone, as if waiting for a goodbye text. Yu wasn’t stupid - why the hell would he warn Keisuke if he truly wanted to die?

Keisuke covered his face with his pillow, halfway hoping it would suffocate him. But that would literally just guarantee that Yu would follow him. His eyelids felt heavy and he closed them.

_I guess me and Yu aren’t very different after all. I guess that’s why we’ve been friends for so long._

Keisuke woke up about an hour later. He checked the messages on his phone, but there obviously wasn’t anything from Yu. No news was probably good news, right? It’s not like Yu usually texted him within an hour of last seeing him. He usually would only text to meet up and to send whatever random shit he found while scouring the internet.

He decided to start browsing through the job applications he had recently applied to. Received, received, rejected, future consideration, received, position closed... nothing of value. None were accepted, he wasn’t invited to an interview for any of them - nothing.

He let out a long sigh. He had to stay in Hudie - no one else would hire someone who hadn’t even managed to graduate secondary school.

He took a look at his cold spaghetti. He realized he had forgotten to get a fork, and sighed. He grabbed a fingerful of noodles and slurped them like some kind of caveman. He made a face. Cold spaghetti was never any good.

He washed off his hand and finally exited his room, tupperware in hand. He once again ignored his parents, making a beeline for the microwave. He put it in and pressed the button to start it.

“You realize that 1,000 yen every few days just isn’t going to cut it, right?” his mother asked in the same cold tone she always did.

“You need to start seriously contributing to this household. You eat our food, you have your own room, you should pay at least a third of the rent,” his father elaborated. “It’s almost the end of the month and you haven’t even paid half of it, and we warned you about this months ago.”

Keisuke clenched his fists. Damn it, why did microwaving a bunch of room temperature noodles have to take so damn long?!

“Keisuke, you can’t just ignore your parents when they’re talking to you, it’s disrespectful!” his mother hissed. “Show some respect to your father!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Keisuke snapped. His eyes went wide. Crap.

Both of his parents were just as shocked or more than he was. His father stood up, a scowl on his face. “Get out. Take your rent for this month, and get out of my house. You do NOT get to talk to my wife - your own mother! - that way in my household. You can fend for yourself.”

He went over to a filing cabinet and tossed a bunch of checks addressed to Keisuke onto the table. There was about 10,000 yen in total, maybe a bit more.

“Go on. Take it, pack your belongings, and get out of my house.”

Keisuke turned to his mother, who was also glaring at him. He looked between his parents incredulously. They were really kicking him out for that?!

“But-”

“No buts. You leave tonight, Keisuke.” Now even his mom was fully on board. Great.

Nothing felt real as he took his spaghetti and his checks into his room. He stuffed his laptop, charger, clothes, and some other personal belongings into his backpack. He rolled up a blanket and tucked it under one arm, and held his pillow under the other, with his fork and tupperware in his two hands.

He gave one last look to his parents, saying nothing, before he exited the apartment.

He slumped against the door, feeling his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. Hands shaking, he reached into his pocket for his phone, clicking on Yu’s contact.

“Hey, could I stay at your place tonight?” he managed to type out and send. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t think he had ever stayed at Yu’s place...but it would probably be fine, right? He wouldn’t really be on the street with only 10,000 yen to his name, right? Right?

He put his phone down, resting his head against the door. He tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. Everything would be fine. He had to convince himself of that.


	2. Stuck Between a Wall and a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Trigger warning for physical/emotional child abuse and alcohol abuse specifically in this chapter!)

The brisk autumn air sent a bit of a shiver down Yu’s spine as he walked the last half-mile back to his house alone. He wrapped himself in a bit of a hug, rubbing his arms to try and warm himself back up. Truthfully, he wasn’t looking forward to coming home tonight - he didn’t know if he could stay far enough away from his father to avoid triggering his temper. And Yu knew he would be awake for the rest of the night - so it was unlikely he’d be able to avoid his father as the night went on and he became more and more drunk.

He nervously entered his house, not wanting to make his presence known until he had a grasp on what the situation was.

The house already reeked with alcohol, much to Yu’s dismay, and he could hear his father ranting and raving in the other room. He tried to sneak off into his room, but his mother heard his footsteps.

“Yu dear? Can you please come eat dinner with us?”

Yu felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach starting to form. He decided to pretend like he hadn’t heard her, slipping into his room and shutting the door behind him silently.

He heard stomping outside, and his breath caught in his throat.

Suddenly, his father slammed the door open. “Your mother called you to dinner,” he growled, the alcohol stench wafting off him like a foul aura.

“Oh, I didn’t hear her,” Yu lied, not meeting his father’s eyes.

His father grabbed him by his turtleneck and he flinched. “I know you’re lying,” his father grumbled. “I heard you stop when she called you. It’s disrespectful to ignore your mother.”

“Like you ever have respected her,” Yu sneered quietly, not really thinking about what he had just said.

Suddenly, his father’s fist connected with his eye socket, sending him flying to the other side of the bedroom. He tried to get back up, but his father kicked him in the stomach before he could.

“You need to learn to respect ME,” his dad hissed.

Yu braced himself for more, squeezing his eyes shut, but when nothing came, he finally cracked an eye open. His father had left, not quite shutting the door behind him, but doing a pretty decent job given how badly Yu had pissed him off.

Yu scurried into the bathroom to check out the damage. He had to quickly take care of a bloody nose before he could inspect the royal black eye that his father had given him. He sighed weakly. _I’m gonna have to wait until my parents go to work to use Mom’s makeup to cover this up…_

That’s what he always did whenever his father had an outburst. There was no point worrying people, so he would just borrow his mom’s makeup when no one was looking. He managed to keep the secret from Keisuke of all people - so he must have been doing something right.

He headed back to his room, resting on his bed as he absentmindedly scrolled through his phone. He didn’t want to think about his father, and he ESPECIALLY didn’t want to think about Keisuke.

Keisuke had to experience all of Yu’s insecurities first-hand, and Yu wasn’t even there to see it all. He slumped into his bed miserably. And - wait, had Keisuke said he knew he was gay? Had he technically come out to Keisuke or not? What if Keisuke didn’t interpret it that way, and would actually still cut him off if he knew the truth? Surely he wouldn’t after forgiving all that, right? But if it was the straw that broke the camel’s back…

He covered his face with his pillow, mentally screaming into it. Even if Keisuke knew he was gay and didn’t care, wouldn’t Keisuke care that Yu had an active crush on him? Like, isn’t it weird to be friends with crushes that you rejected? Had Keisuke even rejected him?

Yeah right, like he’d ever go out with someone as pathetic as Yu, even if by all miracles he ended up being gay himself.

Yu let out a sigh, trying to focus his search on finding some fresh memes to send to Keisuke so he could hopefully forget his entire breakdown ever happened - but much to Yu’s chagrin, all the memes were quite stale.

Yu’s phone suddenly buzzed, and Yu was so surprised he nearly dropped it. He nearly dropped it yet again with shock when he saw it was from Keisuke.

“Hey, could I stay at your place tonight?”

Ohhh no. No no no no no no no. Keisuke could NOT see him like this. He would ask too many questions and would probably catch his bluff if he tried to lie about his injuries. The bruises and scrapes on his arms and legs were a lot easier to hide thanks to his affinity for long sleeves - face injuries...not so much.

Why would Keisuke suddenly want to stay at his place anyways? He couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation. They always had sleepovers at Keisuke’s place, not his. Even if he wanted to talk, wouldn’t he just invite him to his house?

“Tonight’s not a good night, sorry. I think you’d enjoy sleeping at your parent’s house more than sleeping here, aha!”

Yu faceplanted on his bed, awkwardness radiating through his entire body.

There was very quickly another buzz, and reluctantly Yu peered up at the response.

“I got kicked out”

_What?!_

Yu read the message a few times over just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Why would he get kicked out by his parents?!

He couldn’t even wait long enough to text a response. He darted out of his room, almost stumbling because he forgot how sore he was after his father’s attack, but intent on getting to Keisuke as fast as possible. He slipped on his shoes, not paying attention as his mother called for him yet again, and dashed out of the house.

He ran down the sidewalk as fast as he could, rounding a few blocks before he finally got to Keisuke’s apartment building.

As he ran up, he could see Keisuke staring at his phone outside. Keisuke’s attention was drawn to Yu, and he looked surprised to see his friend. But as Yu got closer, Keisuke’s relief turned to panic, face going pale.

“Yu, what happened to your face?!” he asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Yu panted, out of breath. “What happened?! To you, I mean!”

Keisuke looked embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. “I...I accidentally told my parents to fuck off when they told me I needed to pay them rent, and so they decided they were tired of my ass. Really the embodiment of a looser’s way to get kicked out, to be honest.”

Yu’s forehead wrinkled with concern. “So they...they’ve completely kicked you out?”

“Even my mom seemed on board with it, but they might change their mind tomorrow, I have no idea,” Keisuke grumbled honestly.

Yu’s eyes shifted to the ground. Maybe he could try to sneak Keisuke into his room...but was that even a good idea? If his dad found Keisuke, they could both be in real trouble. And he didn’t want to subject Keisuke to that… But at the same time, the only other alternative he could think of was sleeping on the street...unless…

“Maybe we could ask Chitose to help us? Since you’re, uh, not on the best terms with Ryuji,” Yu suggested. “He could maybe even let you stay in Hudie overnight if need be?”

“Y-yeah, good idea,” Keisuke admitted, looking more than a bit nervous about the whole situation.

Yu desperately wanted to hug Keisuke and tell him all his problems would go away until his friend believed it for real - but he kept his hands to himself.

Keisuke had sent a text, before suddenly getting a call.

“Yooo, what’s up? What’s so important that you wanted to call me for? You know Fridays are the nights I go out and party! Say hi to my new girl-friend, Chika!”

“Hiiii Chitose’s friend!”

Keisuke looked visibly pissed off, although Yu didn’t know the full reason why Keisuke was so mad.

Yu peeked into the screen. “Chitose, this is serious,” he insisted. “We need your help.” He instinctively wrinkled his nose when he saw the alcohol bottles. Was Chika even old enough to drink? She looked to be about his and Keisuke’s age, maybe a year older, _but I guess that's close enough._ “Keisuke needs a place to stay for the night.”

“Yeowch! What happened to your eye?!” Chitose replied with a grimace, tact clearly diluted slightly by the alcohol.

“I fell,” Yu replied, immediately feeling Keisuke’s gaze searing through him. “But that’s not important right now.”

“Wait, why does Keisuke need a place to stay? Doesn’t he live with his parents?” Now Chitose was catching up.

“Can you please just meet us in front of Hudie? Please?” Keisuke begged his older friend meekly.

Chitose let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll be there in a few.”

The phone call clicked off and Keisuke immediately looked at Yu. “You didn’t trip. You don’t land on your eye when you trip.”

“I hit my head against a curb so it hit my eye,” Yu quickly lied. “Anyways, we better get going. Don’t want to keep Chitose waiting.”

Yu could feel Keisuke still staring at him as they both walked down to Ikebukuro.  
\----  
Yu waved to Chitose as he saw the older figure in the distance. The blond rushed over.

“So, like, what the hell happened?!” Chitose asked worriedly, breathing heavily from running. “Why do you need some place to stay? Why can’t you stay at your house?”

“My parents kicked me out for cursing at them,” Keisuke admitted, his slouched posture indicating that he wasn’t very proud of himself.

Chitose nearly choked on his own laughter. “Jeez! I wouldn’t have lasted a day in your house!” He rubbed his chin. “Sadly, even though my folks are pretty understanding, we’ve got a full house… Can’t he stay at your’s, Yu?”

Yu shook his head. “Sorry, my parents wouldn’t allow that,” he replied quickly.

“Really? Sheesh, you think they would make an exception for childhood best friends…” Chitose groaned.

“We were hoping he could stay at Hudie, actually,” Yu admitted. “Do you have a spare key?”

Chitose grimaced. “I do, but… Ryuji sleeps there some nights, and he’s not really happy with Keisuke right now. Plus, he opens the store, so if he sees you there with no explanation… He might beat the shit out of you, honestly. Yu, are you sure he can’t stay at your place? Like, you could smuggle him in, just for a night…”

“Positive,” Yu answered sharply, clutching his wrist with his other hand anxiously. “It’s safer here, I’m sure of it.”

Whoops, that might’ve been a little too much information, but neither of the other two men responded.

“Guhh…” Chitose groaned. “Well, it’s probably better than sleeping on the streets...just...try not to get on his bad side right now, okay, Keisuke? He’s going through a lot of stuff at college. I know he’s not the nicest, but he just...he just needs patience.”

Keisuke nodded silently, expression blank to avoid an argument, and a pang of sympathy for his best friend hurt Yu’s heart.

Chitose unlocked the door and let them in.

“Thanks for all your help, Chitose,” Keisuke managed to say, forcing a weak smile.

“Yeah, sure.” Chitose looked at both of them for a while, as if thinking if he wanted to say something else. Eventually he shrugged and waved goodnight, gingerly walking off.

Yu locked the door behind them, then headed to the back of the cafe. “Hey, maybe this closet would be a good place to sleep?” He opened the door labeled VIP, staring at all the dusty boxes and storage inside.

He turned to Keisuke, but the other boy was frozen, pale white.

“That...used to be Erika’s room,” Keisuke finally managed to spit out.

“Oh! O-oh crap!” Yu slammed the door shut a bit harder than he meant to. “S-sorry! W-well you could always sleep in one of the chairs, or on the sofa, or...on the floor I guess…”

Keisuke took a seat on the couch, practically collapsing his exhausted body into it. “This will work…” he murmured drowsily.

Yu stood awkwardly for a moment, swinging his arms back and forth, before turning to the door. “Well, I guess I should be getting home-”

“Wait-”

Keisuke grabbed his hand, causing another red blush to light up his face. God damn it.

“Please...can you please stay with me? If you aren’t busy, I mean?”

Yu furrowed his eyebrows empathetically. It had been a long night for both of them, even though he at least still had a home to return to. ...Not that he really wanted to, especially at this hour. He’d probably be yelled at - if he was lucky, that is.

“Yeah, sure,” Yu finally responded, smiling gently at his friend. He sat down next to him on the couch, feeling a little weird about being that close to Keisuke after everything that had happened. Was he still allowed to touch Keisuke? Be affectionate with him? Or was that off-limits now? He didn’t know what would be the most appropriate - and he would ask, but he didn’t want to bother Keisuke with something so silly right now. He curled into himself a bit, making him as small on the couch as possible so Keisuke had plenty of room to sleep.

“Y-y’know, out of all the days this could’ve happened on...this was kind of a crazy day,” Yu mused softly. “First the mission, then you telling me about the other timeline and Erika, and now this… So much has happened just today. And I really didn’t think today was going to end with you and me falling asleep next to each other on a sofa, haha…”

Yu almost jumped when Keisuke’s head suddenly fell on his shoulder. His entire face went as red as a beetroot in record time. Keisuke was softly snoring, his entire body resting against Yu’s.

Yu tried to gently shift his friend back into a more distant position, but as he shifted, more of Keisuke just started leaning against him. Trapped to the point where he couldn’t move without definitely disturbing Keisuke, Yu resigned himself to the fate of the little spoon, burying his apple-red face in the side of the couch to hide it.


	3. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for alcohol, mentions of abuse, shitty flirting, and vague mentions of sexual assault.

“Ughh…”

Chitose rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. The dawn’s gentle rising sunlight filtered in through his bedroom’s blinds, illuminating the room in a soft blue-ish glow. He glanced over to the clock, noticing it was only 6:34 in the morning. Why did he have to have woken up so early?

The first thing he did after gaining his bearings was make sure he was clothed. Okay, good, he was even still in the Hudie jacket - so he probably hadn’t forgotten anything too important last night. But why the heck did he fall asleep in his Hudie jacket? He glanced around his room for clues, only seeing the alcohol bottle next to his clock on his nightstand.

“And this is why I’m not supposed to drink in my room, I always scare myself that I forgot something before falling asleep,” Chitose groaned, thinking aloud.

He closed his eyes, wracking his brain. Something had happened last night, something had taken him away from the party he had been attending…

He went to start his morning routine, too preoccupied with trying to remember what happened to sleep anymore, when suddenly in the middle of it he remembered what had happened.

“Keisuke!”

He put his razor down despite being in the middle of a shave, wiped his face off quickly, and ran as quickly as he could to the cafe. “Oh no, oh no no no, please tell me I can still get there before Ryuji…”

His shoes stomped against the pavement, legs running faster than they had in a long, long time. He quickly checked his phone for the time - 6:55 already?! Surely Ryuji would be there by 7:00, if not even sooner…

He grabbed the key and quickly unlocked the cafe, relief washing over him when he quickly realized that Ryuji wasn’t there yet. He rounded the corner, wanting to make sure Keisuke was alright overnight - he was still asleep, but…

…

Chitose raised an eyebrow. _Why the hell is Yu here?_

He was a bit in disbelief. He knew Yu was constantly trying to flirt with the ever-clueless Keisuke - which honestly, it was a relief for Chitose to see someone with worse luck with romantic partners than himself - but jeez, this was kind of a big step. And spending the night together wasn’t exactly what Chitose had in mind when he gave Keisuke permission to sleep there overnight.

Like, jeez, he wouldn’t have judged them, but they could’ve picked a better place than the cafe. _They could’ve at least told me the truth! I’m not homophobic, and the idea of Yu and Keisuke spending a passionate night here would’ve made me loose my shit last night and I probably still would’ve said yes._

He rubbed the back of his head. But like...did that mean Keisuke had lied to him about being kicked out of the house? Because that was kind of fucked up if so.

Chitose saw movement out the far window and his eyes widened. He dashed back outside, ending up face to face with Ryuji. “H-hey, Ryuji!”

Ryuji was startled, eyes widening when Chitose suddenly burst out of the store, but he quickly calmed down when he realized it was just his friend. “What were you doing in the cafe this early in the morning? I thought you didn’t wake up until 10 at the earliest. Probably later if you were out last night.”

Ah, Ryuji, ever the friendly optimist. “Yeah, I was just checking on some things. Woke up a bit early and couldn’t sleep, and I thought I had uh...forgotten something. A-actually! I did forget something, but it doesn’t have to do with the cafe. Maybe we could go grab a cup of coffee and talk for a bit?”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Chitose, I literally own a coffee shop.”

“O-oh, right! Well, I meant, like, haha, do you want to go out for lunch? But like right now? I’m awfully hungry and the snacks at Hudie aren’t gonna cut it!”

“Sorry, I’ll pass. I have some important things to file in Hudie,” Ryuji responded, pushing past Chitose to unlock the door.

Chitose panicked. _Shit! He’s gonna find them!_

As Ryuji entered, Chitose reached out a hand and opened his mouth, but had no more excuses. He braced himself for impact, flinching when Ryuji made a grunt at the discovery of the two boys laying on his couch.

“What the fuck?!”

Ryuji didn’t even sound mad, just...perplexed. _Honestly, same._

Chitose ran over, mostly just to make sure Ryuji didn’t beat the shit out of them or something.

Keisuke and Yu immediately woke up when Ryuji shouted, both of them coming to their senses in less than a second. They looked at Ryuji, looked at each other, looked bright red in the face, and then quickly separated, Yu flinging himself over the whole arm of the couch and ending up on the ground behind it.

“Yeah, so I uh… Last night, Keisuke called me and told me he got kicked out of his house and needed a place to stay. So I figured Hudie would be the best place...and it was really late at night so I didn’t want to bother you, sorry,” Chitose explained, grimacing a bit. “As for why Yu’s here...um...I honestly have no idea.”

“I-I asked him to stay,” Keisuke quickly clarified, although the blush returned to his face when he did. “I-I mean, I just...needed a friend. I was worried…”

_Uh huh. Okay, sure. We’ll go with that._

Ryuji’s face was completely unreadable, even to Chitose, and it was clear that said unreadability was beginning to worry Keisuke based on his nervous fidgeting with his hands.

“...Okay,” Ryuji finally replied after what felt like forever, nodding slowly.

“Okay? Okay what?” Chitose pried.

“I...don’t…know…,” Ryuji replied slowly, quietly. “If you’re going to stay here, you’re responsible for any damages that happen off-duty, and I expect you to take care of some chores around here. But I don’t know how I feel about you sleeping in my cafe yet, so don’t get too comfortable.” He turned to the corner that Yu had fallen into. “You can get up now.”

“No, I’m okay down here, but thank you,” Yu responded from the floor, voice muffled by the carpet and the hardwood.

“I’m...going to my office. Just behave yourselves, all of you,” Ryuji insisted before walking away, face still unreadable, closing the door to the “employees only” room behind him.

“Thanks, Chitose, I owe you one,” Keisuke sighed wearily.

“Yeah, whatever,” Chitose replied, somewhat distracted. He turned to Keisuke, almost glaring. “You know, you could’ve at least told me the truth about your plans.”

Keisuke blinked. “What?”

“Yu staying over, you both sleeping on the couch like that...I know what you guys did last night. I wouldn’t have judged you! Today I might have said no, because I know Ryuji doesn’t want any long, passionate nights in his cafe, but last night I was too drunk to say no to something so hilarious.”

Keisuke looked red enough to explode, while Yu visibly flinched, curling up into an even smaller clump on the ground. “Th-that’s not what happened! Nothing happened! Nothing at all happened!” Keisuke insisted.

“Suuure,” Chitose sarcastically retorted, rolling his eyes. “Alright, then how did that happen, hm?”

“I must’ve...f-fallen asleep on top of Yu, or something,” Keisuke answered, although he sounded unsure. “I was really tired last night.”

“Yeah, and I was really drunk, but I also didn’t end up sleeping on top of someone else last night,” Chitose responded. “Look, dude, I dunno about Ryuji, but I’m not going to judge you, so you can just spit it out already. In fact, I’m happy for you guys! But hiding it isn’t going to work very well with me. I’m literally a hacker, but even if I wasn’t, you two are the most obvious motherfuckers on the planet.”

“NOTHING HAPPENED!” Keisuke yelled, burying his face in his hands. “I told Yu to stay with me because I was scared!”

“Of what, the boogeyman? Ryuji?”

“No, of Yu being hurt!”

Chitose wrinkled his forehead. “Why would Yu get hurt? Like damn, you’re the one who got kicked out of your house.”

Keisuke averted his eyes to the ground. “Last night...he had a black eye. It wasn’t there earlier in the day when we were talking, and he insists it’s just from tripping, but...I was scared something could happen to him…”

“I-it’s not that bad, r-really…” Yu piped up shyly, peeking his head out from behind the couch. His eyes were a bit red and puffy, almost as if he had just been on the verge of tears, but more prominently he had a wicked black eye that even looked painful.

“YIKES!” Chitose yelped instinctively. “That’s a nasty black eye! How the hell can you get something like that from tripping?!”

“Exactly,” Keisuke replied, to which Yu shrunk down a bit.

“I-I’m telling you guys, it’s nothing…”

“Oh yeah, then why couldn’t Keisuke spend at least one night at your house, huh?” Chitose asked, raising an eyebrow. “Almost like...you didn’t want anyone to meet your family for some reason?”

Yu flinched, shrinking down even more. “I-it’s just a coincidence… K-Keisuke’s known me my entire life! If anything was going on at home, he would’ve seen my injuries before!”

“Well, I’ve known you your entire life, and the only time I’ve ever met your parents, they didn’t seem very nice, and I’ve never been to your house,” Keisuke clarified, eyebrows furrowed with worry.

“Yeah, and I know you’re pretty good at getting makeup to look natural - I could tell just by looking at you some days,” Chitose added.

“I’m not trying to push you, I’m just...scared,” Keisuke muttered, looking softly at Yu.

Yu pulled his knees up to his chest, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “I-I’m scared, too,” he finally admitted.

Keisuke kneeled on the ground next to him, holding his friend’s hand gently and giving him a sympathetic look.

“I’m scared that something really bad will happen if I go back now,” Yu confessed. “E-even though I was going to leave before you asked me to stay, I wasn’t really sure if I would go back home… I didn’t want to go back, I didn’t want to leave you here, b-but...I just didn’t think I had a choice. I’m still not sure if I do.”

“You do with me,” Keisuke blurted out a bit suddenly.

Yu smiled a bit weakly. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“So you both need a home, huh?” Chitose replied. “Well, you could probably find an apartment easier that way...it’s cheaper if two people rent. But, well, I’ll talk to Ryuji and see how long you guys can stay here. But not right now.” He yawned and stretched. “I’m hungry. I’m gonna go out for brunch, see you. Don’t sit on the ground too long, it’s bad for your back, or something like that.”

He waved goodbye to them and headed out of the store, hands in his pockets.

Once he got outside, he whipped out his phone. “Maybe Chika will wanna grab a bite,” he hoped aloud, sending her a quick text. To his delight, she happily said yes to his proposed arrangements, and he decided to head right over.

\---

“How did you know pancakes were my favorite food?”

Chika was happily stuffing her face full of pancakes, a wide grin spread across her puffed out cheeks.

“I have a knack for these kinds of things,” Chitose boasted, even though it was really just a lucky guess and his own personal cravings. “Plus, I know all the best places to eat in Tokyo! But Ikebukuro will always have a special place in my heart.”

After finishing her pancakes, Chika took a long sip of her soda, then looked at Chitose a bit seriously. “By the way, I’d been meaning to ask...was everything alright last night? You left pretty suddenly, and your friends seemed pretty upset on that phone call…”

“Oh yeah, everything’s fine now, no worries,” Chitose replied nonchalantly with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I had to talk to them about some things, but everything’s cool now.” _...Or at least, I hope it is._ “At the end of it all I basically just passed out at my house. I must’ve drank to the point of blacking out or something, but at least I had all my clothes this time,” he joked. “Mostly I’m just bummed I didn’t get to spend the night getting blackout drunk and doing something I might regret later with you, though.” He winked before taking a gulp of his own glass of water.

Chika’s expression quickly darkened, visibly tensing. “That’s not very funny,” she retorted seriously, clutching her purse close to her. “In fact, that’s not funny at all.”

Chitose blinked, setting down his glass gently. “I’m sorry, did I misread your signals? I thought we were flirting.”

“Flirting doesn’t mean I want to have sex with you,” Chika shot back. “And even if I did, I certainly don’t want to do it when I’m cognitively impaired! I can’t trust myself to make good decisions if I’m blackout drunk - and I’m certainly not going to trust some horny stranger to take care of me, either.”

“Sheesh, I’m sorry,” Chitose replied with a grimace. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah, I know you didn’t.” Chika put a 1,000-yen bill and a 500-yen coin on the table before standing up. “They never do. That’s what they always say, anyways.” She let out a sigh. “I was hoping you were different, but I guess not.” She started walking away.

“H-hey, wait a minute!” Chitose shouted after her. “Look, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, it was just a joke.”

Chika stopped but didn’t look back. “It’s just a joke for you guys...until suddenly it’s not. I’m not willing to put myself at risk.” She now turned around. “You boys have no idea what it’s like…” She shifted her eyes to the ground, then turned back around. “Nevermind, it’s not worth my time. Goodbye, Chitose.” She opened the door and quickly walked out of the restaurant."

“Ah, balls,” Chitose cursed under his breath. _What the heck did I do wrong? Me and my boys have always made jokes like that. It’s not supposed to be an insult!_

He groaned. At least she had paid her part of the lunch...but he was planning to be a gentleman and cover that, anyways.

He quickly finished up his hashbrowns, paying for his part of the meal and quickly shuffling out of the restaurant, hoping no one else in the restaurant had seen his whole fiasco with Chika. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, body language closed off. _I guess I better head back to Hudie. It’s not like I have anything better to do now, anyways._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to reiterate that what Chitose said wasn't very appropriate and Chika's reaction, if a bit sudden, was valid. Chitose might be the protagonist but he's not necessarily in the right all of the time. ...Or at all, in this chapter, lmao. Keisuke might be a dumbass but he's not a liar!


End file.
